Jeremiah 5:1-9; Romans 2:25-3:18; John 5:30-47 Psalm 95:7. For he is our God, and we are the people of his pasture and the sheep of his hand. Oh, that today you would hearken to his voice. Abba! What a mix of emotions floods through me: love, awe, joy, gratitude, security...
John :1:38: When Jesus turned and saw them following, he said to them, "What are you looking for? When I was 16, and my mother was in a coma at the hospital, I prayed all night on my knees by the bed at a neighbor's house, saying the Rosary and begging God to save her. As a "good Catholic...
Lamentations 3:37-58; Hebrew 4:1-16; Romans 8:1-11 "Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts." St. Benedict talks about "listening with the ear of our hearts" to God. I love this phrase. Just hearing it softens my edges. When I'm available to God I can feel my heart opening...
I Corinthians 10:7: Do not become idolaters as some of them did.... "The word of the Lord." How tender, yet arresting, is that oft-heard phrase as it frames my scripture readings. God, sometimes when I read scripture it feels like you're talking directly to me. Sometimes it feels like I'm...
Tenebrae (Latin, for “darkness” or “shadows”) is the term that has been used since the 12th century to refer to the ancient monastic early morning services or “offices” (Matins and Lauds, similar to the Morning...
I never could have anticipated what would happen when I brought “Ashes to Go” to a parishioner who resides in a local nursing home. She is someone who I have recently been blessed to meet and gotten to know through Lay Eucharistic Visits. After a short devotion and prayers with her...
Lent is a time of prayer, fasting and almsgiving as we prepare ourselves for Easter. Rather than thinking of this as a time of giving up, think of Lent as a time for do-ing. Do something for yourself - expand your faith, make time for prayer. Do something for others - volunteer your time, help...
Happy Lent! “Happy” may seem a strange word for a season that begins in dust, ashes, and humility and calls us, among other things, to make do with less. But “happy” it still is. Our seasons in the church encourage us not just to dwell in the present—in Lent, that...